Taking the Reigns

The new USG administration has officially taken over, and while president Nina Langsam '03 has a list of issues she plans to address in the coming year, she will likely face both obvious and unforeseen challenges in the achievement of those goals.

Langsam, who won a runoff election against David Gail '03, plans to address issues ranging from the peer advising system and precept reform to the USG reports on minorities and women.

She has entered office with a lengthy list of what she hopes to accomplish, as have the past three administrations of Joe Kochan '02, PJ Kim '01 and Spencer Merriweather '00.

All three entered office with very specific visions for the future of the University, but their administrations ended up being taken in unforeseen directions.

Indeed, the realization of Langsam's agenda depends heavily on her ability to overcome unforeseen challenges, said David Tukey '02, who has held several USG positions since his freshman year.

"[Langsam] will inevitably face unexpected challenges, the things we cannot anticipate and define," Tukey said.

Challenges like those faced by Kim, Kochan and Merriweather will likely confront Langsam, Tukey said, and her task will be to create the appropriate committees to deal with them.

Kim cited the sixth residential college as the biggest issue she will face in the coming year.

Still, it will be the unexpected problems that will prevent Langsam from achieving her agenda, he said.

Merriweather said the job of the USG president often deviates during a term from specific agendas.

"You can come in with a lot of promises. In fact, it's only appropriate to do so," he said. "But, you should be able to alter the way you decide to deal with any given problem.

He also noted, "Different things occur to you about different issues than when you came in with a definite agenda. You need to either change or reform your priorities."

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Many of the major social and academic issues Langsam has promised to challenge or shift, Tukey said, are so ingrained in the University culture that it is tough to get anything major accomplished in a year.

"She will not get everything she promised done," Tukey said. "But she will make headway in certain issues and work toward future USG administrations being able to get them accomplished."

Perhaps more importantly, Tukey said, Langsam holds a key role as the first female USG president in more than a decade. That she is a woman will act in her favor at least in dealing with women's issues on campus.

"She really has a chance to do something about women's issues," he said of Langsam, who has promised to follow up on the USG report on women's issues. "It will be interesting to see whether she embraces the issue."

First, Langsam must overcome some of the endorsements that went in Gail's favor, most notably the Organization of Women Leader's snub of the only female presidential candidate.

In Langsam's eyes, endorsements are only a reflection of the personal biases of a select few officers, rather than the feelings of an entire group.

Regarding OWL, she said, personal politics played a role. With her creation of the Women's Issues Actions Committee, Langsam plans to "put the past behind us and work towards solving some women's issues on campus."

Kochan noted that the endorsements that did not go Langsam's way are pretty inconsequential.

"Endorsements are only a small segment of people who speak for a larger group," he said. "You have to look at the nature of the endorsements."

Merriweather echoed that idea. The University is not made up of groups but of individuals, he said.

"We don't enter as groups, we enter as individuals," he said. "And it's the individuals that count."

A final challenge, Tukey said, will come in acting on her agenda while still maintaining the other responsibilities of the president. Very few USG presidential candidates are aware of the more than 40 hours a week that the job entails, he said.

"At the outset, most USG presidents do not know how many little things need to be done," Tukey said. "There are serious time constraints to achieving one's agenda."

Merriweather, however, added his reassurance that it is possible to uphold the duties of the president and to work toward an agenda.

"There's a way to [balance presidential obligations and new goals], and it's not that hard. If you have priorities, you can frame some committees to achieve your goals" he said. "The biggest challenge is to try to remain a student and yet still take the lead on important student issues."